Ever wish you had the luxury of a baseball player to just say, “Sorry dude, it’s raining WAY too hard out there for me to do my job,” and skulk off to the nearest bookstore/bar/bedroom and give the world the finger? Yeah, I think that’s how most of us feel this morning. After yesterday’s ark-inspiring demonstration of Mother Nature’s irrigation systems, to wake up to more rain this morning seemed like a bad joke, some sort of retribution for sins committed, or perhaps even just imagined, in the beauty of Spring in the days prior to the weekend.

Looking through a search or two on Flickr, it seems yesterday was spent in the pursuit of uploading the previous week’s collection of beautiful day photos. I was driving home from Winston-Salem in the storm last night, hitting several patches of rain so hard I had to slow to 25mph and flip my hazards on, as driving faster than that meant that I couldn’t see the end of the reach of my headlights, due to the sheets and sheets of rain coming down.

I may well declare a rainout today unless it gets better soon.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

That’s right, kids, it’s a gorgeous day out. The kind we get all too precious few of as DC makes the transition between “cold and gloomy” to “humid and sweltering.”

So why are you sitting in front of a computer reading this? Get up! Go outside! Open the sunroof! Occupy a sidewalk table at your favorite restaurant! Go to the zoo!

But don’t stay here when you could be taking advantage of this.

Omg awesome outside

Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Heartbreaking.

That’s as good a word as any for Capital fans today, after last night’s loss to the Flyers. They now trail the surging Philly team 3-1 in the series.

By far, it was Washington’s best game of this year’s playoffs. But it fell short by a Mike Knuble goal in the second overtime.

I really thought the Caps would take this one away from Philly last night; I watched in awe as Ovechkin delivered a thunderous hit on Knuble in the early stages of the first period and saw that fire in him that reminded me of the last two weeks of the Cap’s regular season. The team was tight, calm, and focused.

It just wasn’t enough.

A less-than-stellar first period start didn’t derail the team, unlike the last two games, with the Caps shutting down the Flyer’s power play after practically giving them three penalties in a row early on. The lead changed hands all night, with Eminger netting his first playoff goal and giving the Caps the lead briefly in the third.

The Caps played hard – they led the game in hits, 38-29 – but the Flyers were ready for them. The lackluster showing last Sunday here in Game Two has really come back to haunt them. Ovechkin and the Caps now face elimination on Saturday, and the stats are not favorable. Philly is 15-2 all-time when leading a best-of-seven series 3-1. It’s rare for a team to roar back from being two games back and unless the Caps can dig deep and find the energy they had in the race to the playoffs, I don’t think they’re much longer for Round One. Winning three games in a row against a physical team that is peaking at the right time is a daunting challenge indeed.

Still, it’s a possibility, and I won’t count the Caps out yet. It’s not over until the final horn sounds.

8 ball, courtesy of jiariles

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Third Fridays at The Rock and Roll Hotel have been a nightlife staple of mine for the past year, as Metblogs own Michael Darpino (he of the perpetual tower of books) has been onboard as one half of Room 429’s Re:sonance DJs, along with Chris Diamond. These two tirelessly spin a relentless onslaught of shoegazer, brit-pop, 80’s/90’s underground, and whatever else the eclectic and diverse crowd cries out for…

My favorite thing about the Hotel is the unexpectedness of any given night’s events – one minute everyone’s chill, the next minute a girl is rocking out on the pool table, and then suddenly there’s a hula hoop dancer going wild in the corner. And yet it all manages to happen without any of the attitude that can plague other nightlife spots in the city – people are just happy, mingling and having a crazy fun time.

So join us this Friday, April 18th for the one year anniversary of Room 429, free upstairs from 9:30pm on. They’ll be giving away Screen Vinyl Image and Soundpool CDs. And don’t forget to say cheers to Darpino and Diamond for a job well done!

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In what is some shocking news, a Senate committee was informed on Tuesday that should a 10 kiloton nuclear bomb explode at the White House, a lot of damage would occur to our fine state city. They were also briefed on the lack of readiness by our government for such an attack. And here all along I thought we were completely safe since 9/11 due to our “war on the axil of evil”, the spiffy color coded terror alert system, and the addition of a few air marshals on our airplanes. No?

According to the article:

Dr. Cham Dallas, a public health expert at the University of Georgia, presented a map of downtown Washington, D.C., showing that there would be 100,000 deaths within just a few square miles of the White House.

Casualties would extend from the Washington Monument through Georgetown and north toward the Washington Zoo. There would be massive debris from damaged buildings, including shattered glass.

In Chicago or New York City, which have more concentrated populations, the damage could be four to eight times as bad.

I have to wonder, is this something we can really prepare for? A catostrophic disaster such as this, especially in our nation’s capital, would cause such a panic around the country and around the world, 9/11 would pale in comparison.

What do you think, DC? How safe and prepared do you think we really are? Or is it best not to even worry about it because if a nuke goes off we’ll be instantly burnt into crispy critters? I’m just glad I live nice and close to the White House.

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In 2002, I abandoned my Catholic faith, after a priest of the cloth in Falls Church used the pulpit to explain that women couldn’t properly understand the suffering of Christ.

Maybe it’s my mistrust of the Catholic Church after that incident that leads me to think that the Pope’s visit today is unimportant. Growing up, I had the chance to see His Holiness John Paul II at Laguna Seca raceway, except that our bus broke down on the way to collect us from my small California hometown. We were stranded without a way to get there. I remember being incredibly disappointed, though my disappointment paled in comparison to my mother’s. We watched on TV instead as the Holy Father took bread, blessed it and broke it, and distributed it to the tens of thousands who had gathered to hear him speak.

Sure, I understand what makes people Believe. Belief is a powerful thing, it gives us will when we might not have it otherwise, it gives us strength when we are weak, it gives us comfort when we are sad.

Perhaps if it were John Paul II again, I might understand the excitement. He reached out to the world and sought to make the faith more accessible to all. This Pope, though, has been more controversial, making changes to the mass to return it more closely to the obfuscated Latin origins, as well as with no new policy for dealing with the problem of abused children by people of trust in the Church, I think I will stay away a bit longer.

So, if you are a fan of His Holiness, by all means, get excited and worship in your faith today. Me? Just another day, only with more crowds, and more closed roads.

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DC Metrocentric has an awesome preview of the new Capitol Visitors Center that’s been under construction on the East side of the Capitol since time immemorial. I love the glass ceiling that gives way to the Capitol Rotunda. You can also read more about the new facility via the Architect of the Capitol’s Weekly Construction Summaries. This week, they’re working on “millwork, wall stone, floor stone, grout lines, painted surfaces, ceiling panels, plaster work, doors, and other finish materials.”

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You can watch the Pope go by today without even leaving your office! Check out this traffic camera at 17th & Penn NW for the procession.

The traffic camera is gone, now, so please check out this video time-lapse instead

Many thanks to Brownpau for the cool video!

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So the Capitals are sliding behind the playoff 8-ball. Hammered last night in Philly by a final score of 6-3, where Brière has lit a fire somewhere and Biron’s thrown up a Berlin-esque wall, the hometown hockey heroes has looked more like the ice-capades on a road trip.

Seriously.

Where’s the fire that exploded from this team in the third period of Game One? Watching Sunday’s game was like watching the Caps back in October, when the team was terrible and looking to beat Columbus down the standings.

Last night was marginally better, but only just.

The Caps got behind early on Sunday and never recovered; Ovechkin was double-teamed and his support cast was nowhere to be found. That’s not how you win playoff hockey – it’s how you give the opposing goalie a shutout. Guess what happened?

I’ll give Washington credit, they did try to stage another late rally, closing the gap to 4-3 on Laich’s goal at 4:34 remaining. But Philly rallied quick, with Mike Richards zinging Huet on a penalty shot less than two minutes later. Nail? Meet hammer.

Biron could’ve taken naps in his goal – the Caps had a total of 16 shots on the evening. Compare that to the final games of the regular season, when Caps opponents were seeing flurries of 30 and 40 shots.

Where have the Caps disappeared to?

Now, not all is lost. The series is only 2-1 in the Flyers’ favor. But they face another rough game ahead in Philadelphia before coming back to the Verizon Center. Which could be the Caps’ swan song…or not. Honestly, it’s really up to the rest of the team.

You can’t hang all the pressure on Ovechkin – though ineffective since his game-winning goal in Game One, he’s hardly at fault. The Flyers defense has been tightly focused on shutting him down (even after losing Timonen), and they’ve done so with frightening ease. In times like this, it’s dependant upon the superstar’s supporting cast to step up and make a difference. We know they can – we saw ample evidence of it in the last month of the regular season. Semin, Kozlov, Federov, Backstrom – pretty much non-existent forces on the ice right now. I’ll give a pass to Mike Green – his sniper shots are still scary as heck, as we saw last night.

So don’t despair quite yet, Caps fans. If the Flyers dominate to another win on Thursday, however…

Maybe the Pope could swing by the Verizon Center on his out-and-about birthday tour and toss out a few blessings…

IMG_5190 copy, courtesy of island_explorer

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When you’re out walking to lunch today, in the glorious spring sunshine, take a moment to think about what you’re having. Is it trucked in by Sysco after being canned somewhere in the midwest? Or is it hauled in from area farms?

I’ve fallen in love with the area farmers markets, which are about to start their season again. The Post sent over a very neat Google Maps Mashup with a bunch of local farmers markets. Be sure to play with the days of the week on the map, as that made me miss my two favorite farmers markets initially.

If you’re interested in Farm Shares, please check out the VABF’s listing of CSA farms in the northern virginia area, most of whom will have dropoff points in the District. It’s not too late!

Strawberries — Originally uploaded by tbridge

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This is it, the moment that Vatican Sign Man has been waiting for. Finally, a chance to show the Holy Father himself the homemade sign that he’s been carrying across town and waving at traffic on Mass Ave for years now. You’ve seen him on the Metro with his five foot sign, standing there amidst the crowd as if everything is perfectly normal. He seems like a nice old man but deep inside that brain of his there are probably a few synapses that aren’t quite firing. As the train doors open at the Dupont Circle station, he heads towards the exit at a pace that isn’t quite a sprint but definitely isn’t a walk, on his way to his spot on Mass Ave to let the world know that according to him, the Vatican hides pedophiles. I would love to do an interview with him and find out just where they’re hiding them. In the Holy Basement?

What do you think the chances are that Vatican Sign Man “disappears” over the next few days seeing as how:

“Following a meeting with President Bush at the White House on April 16, the Holy Father will leave the White House in the popemobile at approximately noon via East Executive Avenue, travel west on Pennsylvania Avenue past Washington Circle, and then north on Rock Creek Parkway before exiting at Massachusetts Avenue. He will conclude his trip at the papal nunciature located at Observatory Circle where he will enjoy a lunch with the United States cardinals and others in honor of his 81st birthday.”

Um, happy birthday your Holy Popeness.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

So, D.C.’s in a tizzy with the Papal visit this week, and all the supposed traffic tie-ups it’s supposed to bring. This afternoon, a cadre of D.C. police and crowd control specialists (aka “barricade men”) lined Pennsylvania Avenue with aluminum corrals. Supposedly tomorrow will pale in snarly comparison with Thursday for the 10am Papal mass at the new National’s Stadium (are we ever gonna really name this correctly?). I’ve luckily got a nice vantage point for the procession, but I’m really in it to see which Popemobile he’ll be riding in (there are several variations, including several variations of Fiat’s…). I caught this peloton of D.C. police burning 1 inch rubber down the street this afternoon. If only all law enforcement was this eco-friendly… but I’d like to see them take the place of the USPS team some day in the Tour de France (which is also coming up soon too)

D.C. Police Police Peloton

Originally uploaded by webjedi

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Warning. This video contains some coarse language.

But they’re right, this is total bullshit. A bunch of Libertarians got together, with their iPods, and headed over to the Jefferson Memorial to have a silent dance party for Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, as it was his birthday this weekend. One of the dancers was then arrested by the Park Police for dancing in the monument amongst a bunch of other dancers around midnight, as not to disturb tourists.

I’m still not clear on what she was arrested for, or exactly what the whole deal was with the Police who decided she needed to get hauled off because she wanted to get her groove on with Thomas Jefferson. You can read a personal account of the event, or another personal response about the event, and as Mike Licht points out, Jefferson himself said “Dancing is a healthy and elegant exercise, a specific against social awkwardness…”

But apparently, it will get you a bullshit arrest by a bunch of rentacops gone rogue. I understand that The Jefferson 1 was released, but I am not sure if charges are pending or not.

So much for Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness…

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Though it’s a bit too chilly today, by midweek, we’ll be into perfect sidewalk cafe weather. I remember many a night spent on the patio either at Boulevard Woodgrill in Clarendon, or at Four Courts in Courthouse, or down on I St at the Bottom Line after work.

There are a ton of great places in DC for drinks on the patio when the weather’s nice and the sun is shining, and everyone’s got a favorite. I know Wayan is addicted to Fox & Hounds, and that I’ve certainly enjoyed a long happy hour after work at Elephant & Castle, and of course there’s the roof deck of pretty much every place in Adams Morgan, or the places in Georgetown that have the pull-back walls to let the air flow in when it’s nice.

Do your friends a solid, though, and tell us where to be this week when it’s nice here below in the comments.

Street in San Juan, Puerto Rico (LOC) — Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

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One down, three more wins to go.

In case you missed it, your Washington Capitals came from behind and stole Game 1 from the Philadelphia Flyers. They stole it like Ovechkin stole the puck in the waning minutes for his first playoff goal. Seriously – it’s a gorgeous move and great goal. You’ve got to see it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

It’s not going to be a cakewalk, though. The Flyers came out gunning, hopping up to a 4-2 lead before the Caps finally got their jitters behind them and surged to a tie. Mike Green netted two, and Ovie had 43 hits – 43! – on the night. Think he’s a tad excited?

Now that they’ve got the return-to-playoff jitters behind them, they’d better settle into a groove on Sunday for the rematch and not fall behind often. It’s not a good pattern to get into.

So hit the Verizon Center on Sunday and wear your red. I won’t be there, though – my preferred team has some more Senator-smacking to do, so I’ll be watching that demolition from the comfort of my living room.

Go Caps! (because I hate the Flyers!)

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There are just three weeks to go until the deadline for metered cabs, and the Examiner is reporting that most cabs haven’t received the new meters yet. Most are waiting on the ruling of the DC Superior Court as to whether or not Mayor Fenty had the authority to pass the law mandating time and distance meters. The suing parties insist that the authority regarding the billing methods of the taxi cabs in the District belongs to the Taxi Commission and not the Mayor and the City Council.

Strikes me as a good chance that DC might be very short on taxicabs if the court doesn’t rule soon. Even if the court does rule soon, what are the odds that the taxi shops around town have enough time to work their way through the backlog of procrastinating drivers?

I’m betting they’re fairly long. Which means we’ll either have a near total lack of cabs, or we’ll see more lawsuits and tickets and fights between cabbies and the police. And all because one Senator had some constituents taken for a ride by the DC cabbies…

I’d be sympathetic, except that I’ve been taken for a ride before, myself…

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Well, if you’re in the mood for a 7am block party – and not at Dulles airport on your way to the left coast – then hie on over to the Newseum. Not only is today opening day, during which admission is free, but they’re kicking off the last two hours up to the opener with a big shindig with music, beverages, caricatures, and other brouhaha. I’m sure the area commuters are thrilled.

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I love this story. It’s just so perfectly kleptocratic DC. Guy has his car stolen, the thieves get a parking ticket, which gets billed back to the owner. Meanwhile, the car amasses tickets, and finally gets towed.

This is where the story should end. They should run the plates on the car, find out it’s been stolen awhile back, and call the rightful owner. They should void the tickets as occurring while the car was stolen, and then go after the thief.

Here’s what actually happened: Because it’s DC, they release the car to the thief, and send the owner to collections for the amount of the tickets.

Now that’s some efficient government right there.

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Marc Fisher took one for the team recently and tried out Greyhound’s new discount offerings designed to compete with the various Chinatown in name only bus services.

Now, I have complained to people in the past when Ticketmaster’s insane surcharges took up a sizable percentage of the face price of the ticket, but never once have they managed to match the 50% booking fee that Fisher was charged…. at $0.50.

Yep, a $1 ticket to NYC. Only one-way, but some time spent looking around the sidewalks in the big apple will likely yield you enough nickels for the $1.50 (with booking charge) to come back to our fair city. The promotional fares will probably peter out at some point, but with a at-the-door price of $20 it’s hard to complain. I suspect that in the near future you’re going to get molested by advertising, given that Fisher comments that there were three flat-screen tvs not currently in use, but if you tack $4 on to the price for earplugs even that can be a good deal.

Bargain, courtesy of sgrace

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It was late last night as we got off the Metro at Courthouse after the Nats loss. The Vicodin I’d taken to dull the pain after my wisdom teeth came out was wearing off, and frankly, in that situation I get might grumpy. Having only had a yogurt, I pulled into the Wendy’s at Courthouse & Wilson for a Frosty.

Now, the Wendy’s closes its dining room at 10 or so, but their drive-thru is open until 2 in the morning. Which is great, if you have a car. But as the picture here demonstrates, about a half dozen people last night took it upon themselves to just walk up to the window. Sure, two of them waited in “line” between a few cars, but the rest showed up unbidden, and the wait while they placed their orders was 10 or so minutes, holding up the rest of the line.

Folks. It’s a drive-thru window. It’s not a walk-up.

Drive thru walkups — Originally uploaded by tbridge

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs